Stranger
by TheUn-POP-ableBubble
Summary: No. They were wrong. They had to be wrong. She couldn't be gone... Sakura just couldn't be gone...//A Team 7 fic centered around tragedy and how they pull through it.


**Author's Note: **This was based on a plot that has been rolling around in my head since mid-September. -_- Yeah, that's how bad I am. In my defence, I didn't expect it to be this long and I shifted a bunch of stuff around cause it wasn't turning out right. Even now, I'm sure it's only mediocre but I'll get around to editing it sometime in the New Year and not before then!

Btw, this is really a Team 7 sort of fic with SasuSaku on the side. Not what I would've preferred but... I'll post it anyway cuz I'm actually okay with how it turned out. Now, if there's a scene that you think doesn't really belong in the story and is sort of an aside or a filler or something, I was trying to put in a Sakura-bonding moment with each Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke. So just keep that in mind as you read on.

Another thing, I am not following the manga storyline. This is an AU (Alternate Universe) fic. And yes, characters are going to seem OOC at different points of the story.

So yeah, hope you read, hope you enjoy, and hope you review! ^-^

**Disclaimer: **I don't own a thing about Naruto and I find it hard to believe that I ever will.

* * *

**Stranger**

**A Naruto FanFiction written by TheUn-POPableBubble**

No.

No, no, no, no, _no._

It couldn't be.

There was a mistake.

They were _wrong._

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, _wrong._

They_ had_ to be.

Because there was no way that their Sakura – their beautiful, wonderful, care-free, miraculous, ever-loving, little cherry blossom – had been taken away from them. Not because of something as small as hitting her head on the Memorial Stone the wrong way.

The grown males of Team 7 had always known that she could easily be taken from their protective grasp but they had always imagined a large battle that had worn them all to the point where they were physically unable to shield her. She would be lost because of something unavoidable – something that meant she didn't die in vain; not because of a simple accident. What's worse was that the creature sitting up in the hospital bed could not be their Sakura Haruno. Even if she had the same uncommon hair tone and the same sparkling green eyes and the same gentle smile and all of the same medical information, that person could never be their Sakura Haruno again.

Because she didn't remember them.

She smiled at them when Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, Naruto and Sasuke entered her hospital room but she did not wave or call out a greeting. She only smiled in silence.

_And it killed all of them._

What wouldn't they give to hear her lecture Kakashi about his late habits; to see her roll her eyes at Yamato when he stared at Naruto; to tempt Sai into showing her one of his paintings; to punch Naruto through another wall because of something he said; to watch her look adoringly at Sasuke; what wouldn't they give for any of that? _Nothing. _

Except maybe her.

Anything – any_one_ – but Sakura.

"Oh, hey guys." Ino greeted them with a sad smile. She had forced Tsunade into letting her be Head Nurse of Sakura's case – even though she wasn't technically a full-time doctor at Konoha's hospital – and she was with the pinkette all the time; re-educating her and healing her as best she could. Her blue eyes matched the sadness that reflected from nearly all present in the room.

Sensing that this was a moment for the team she stood to take her leave. Sakura's expression turned to one of confusion as she focused on her old friend. She opened her mouth to speak and it hurt Team 7 that much more to hear _her_ voice coming from the stranger.

"Ino leave?" She sounded like a five-year old just learning to speak. She looked even more child-like as they watched her put actions to her words. She gathered her hair into a high ponytail for 'Ino' and had two fingers act like walking legs for 'leave'.

Ino nodded and tried to hide her gathering tears from everyone. "Yes. Ino leave." She turned away from the grown pinkette to face the men.

"She has a vague sense of recognition. She should know who you guys are but she won't be able to communicate very well. She uses actions more often than words so if she wants something you'll have to learn her sign language. If she puts her hair up, it means she wants me, kay?" The men all gave noises of understanding. Ino gave a long, sad sigh. "She'll probably want to add actions to each of your names too. Be sure that you don't upset her; she's still in a fragile state of mind." And then Ino left the room.

Team 7 gathered all around Sakura and could tell that – despite the fact that they should be complete strangers to her – she was very comfortable being surrounded by them. Her smile was bright and her eyes jumped to each of them, giving off a kind of shine and they assumed she recognized that they had been – were still – important to her. She then started a sort of game. She would focus on one of them at a time and try to remember their name and create an action to resemble them.

She spent a minute on Kakashi's name but when she got it right she clapped her hands, beamed him a large smile, covered her left eye with a hand and repeated his name. He had to chuckle. She sure made her actions obvious. He supposed that she needed to if she wanted to communicate anything clearly.

Yamato did not take as long for her to remember; they guessed it was because he was a more recent event in her life. For his name, she reached over and knocked on the wooden table. They assumed that she was recalling his Wood Style. But when she smiled at him it was only a polite one; acknowledging him but also apologetic, as if she could not recall them being especially close.

She got Sai almost right away and pretended to hold a brush in her hand as she painted the word "friends" on her blanket. Even so, she only chose that word because it was connected to a memory of him during the first mission they had together; it was obvious to Team 7 that the meaning of the word did not necessarily apply to their relationship. She was pleased when he smiled at her but confused when he addressed her as 'Ugly'. She didn't recognize that the word had once been associated with her name and Sai found his smile slipping. There were some things that she just couldn't remember.

When she looked at Naruto she nearly broke her face with the size of her smile. It was apparent that she knew him. She had trouble pronouncing his name though. He helped her with it and she got it after four minutes of practicing. Then she laughed and used her hands to draw six imaginary lines across her cheeks to resemble 'Naruto'. He laughed with her and copied her action, tracing the whisker markings on his face with three fingers from each hand.

And then she saw Sasuke.

Her laughter faded and her smile lessened in size but not in radiance. Her smile was gentle and innocent.

"Sasuke!" She exclaimed immediately. Team 7 was surprised. She had always taken a little while to recall who they were or properly pronounce their names but she had managed the Uchiha's in a single second. Not knowing what else he could do, Sasuke only nodded.

"Yeah."

She giggled and opened her arms to hug him while repeating, "Sasuke!" Slowly, he enfolded himself in her embrace but felt a bit uncomfortable. She hadn't hugged the others and she certainly hadn't recognized them as early. Nearly unbearable guilt washed over him.

Even after he had returned to Konoha at the ripe age of sixteen – after completing his revenge of course – he had not expected Naruto and Sakura to welcome him home so readily. Having them and an ANBU team survey him during his temporary probation had taken some adjusting and getting used to but he found that he rather enjoyed his teammate's company. He didn't really understand them (why did they continue to go so far for him?) but he didn't push them far away either. He could tell that Sakura still held strong feelings for him but he never did anything to encourage her; he didn't feel that he was ready for anything like that. But he did enjoy having her around. She and Naruto were both threads that kept him attached to sanity and, eventually, he began to fall back into a routine with them.

And then _this_ had happened.

He could barely remember what exactly _had_ happened. One minute, the three of them were about to drag Kakashi away from the Memorial Stone to Ichiraku for lunch and the next, she had stumbled and was bleeding. Badly. Sasuke had been the one to carry her to the hospital. In the rush of handing her over to nurses and medics grabbing equipment and calling out special codes he almost missed her eyes opening half way and seeing him. She had tried to call out his name but it came as an incoherent mumble instead before she had fallen into unconsciousness again. She had woken up a week later with the mindset of a newborn child despite her nineteen year-old body. He had forgotten what the doctors had called it.

He remembered that when she had first woken up, she had thrown a fit. He had come alone to visit her unconscious body that day and, after a time, placed a hand on her shoulder in a sort of plead to wake and she had. Immediately.

He had backed away; worried that he had disturbed her in some way. She had moved her lips and reached out to him but he had kept his distance, frozen like a deer caught in headlights. Some nurses who were checking in had seen her move and flew into a frenzy trying to give her all sorts of medicine and shots and trying to get her comfortable. She had thrashed about and screamed strange sounds and fought tooth and nail to scramble away from the nurses. _She had been scared. _

"A-ke!" she kept screaming. More frightened than he was comfortable admitting, Sasuke had fled the room.

Now, as he was held in her arms and she kept whispering his name in his ear, he realized that she had been trying to call out to _him_ that day; trying to pronounce his name and earn his protection.

And he had run away.

Sasuke had never loathed himself more than he did now and in an attempt to escape the pain, he pulled away from her loving embrace. She didn't seem to mind much and kept a smile on her face. Sasuke flinched as she reached a small hand out towards him but she didn't react to noticing it. He briefly wondered if she _had_ noticed it, wondered if her abilities as a ninja had disappeared with her memory and speech capabilities but was brought back to the present when her hand gently lay over his heart. Curious, he traced her arm with his eyes until they established eye contact. He questioned her with his eyes.

She simply smiled and repeated, "Sasuke."

He did not understand.

Her free hand had guided one of his to lie over her heart and she repeated once more, "Sasuke."

He still didn't get it. It was obvious she was creating a symbol for him but he didn't understand what the heart had to do with him at all. Unless… Unless she still loved him…

Sasuke grimaced and ripped himself away from her - far away from her – in an attempt to stop hurting so much. But when he hit the wall he still wasn't far enough away and so he made for the door.

"Oi! Teme? What the hell!?"

"Wait Sasuke!"

"Where are you going?"

"Sasuke! No leave!"

But he didn't stop. He didn't even falter in his movement.

He was leaving her again.

And he hated himself because of it.

But he refused to stop until he was far within the caverns of the Hokage Stone Faces; where he cloaked his chakra signature and hid away in the darkness, his only companion a memory of a happier time where innocent children of green, blue and black shared sunny afternoons, fun-filled lunches and brilliant dreams.

* * *

It must have been hours later – the sun had set anyway – when Naruto's echoing footsteps found Sasuke hiding in the darkness of the Second Hokage's face carving. The blonde boy didn't even say anything; he just sat beside his best friend and kept his chakra level low. And while Sasuke would never say it, Naruto knew that he was thankful for his company.

At least another hour passed before conversation started.

"We never did find out what was under Kakashi's mask."

Naruto looked towards his best friend. Raven bangs kept him from seeing Sasuke's facial expression but the Kyuubi vessel could guess that the Uchiha was deeply, deeply hurt.

Naruto gave a dry scoff of a laugh. "He was really good at keeping it out of our reach ne? It was like he knew what we were up to."

"And he would've found out, if it weren't for her quick thinking that one time."

"You mean when he tied us up and those lame-os appeared?" Naruto tried to chuckle again. It still didn't sound right. "Yeah, we still kind of owe her for that, don't we?"

"Yeah…"

A minute of silence fell over the pair as each recalled their own memories of the incident.

"Then we had the mission in the Land of Tea. With Idate remember? Ibiki's little brother? She saved your ass on that mission."

"And then I left."

Sasuke's comment stung both shinobi with less-than-pleasant memories of their teammate's tears. One remembered the night of departure; the other recalled the promise of a lifetime.

"Yeah well," Naruto took in a shaky breath to contain the stinging tears. "We got you back so… the fact that you left us hardly matters anymore right?"

Naruto wasn't surprised when he heard Sasuke speak in a quiet, quivering voice. "… It mattered to her."

Naruto didn't know what to say to that. What Sasuke claimed was the truth; his abandonment _had _affected her deeply. Even throughout the most recent years after Sasuke had come back, Naruto would still find her crying herself to sleep more often than not. He knew she had been scared that Sasuke would disappear at any given moment but he hadn't known what he could've done to help her. So he continued to sit outside her window and listen to her tears and her sobs at many a late night. Once he had brought Sasuke along thinking that he could do something about it but the Uchiha had stiffened at the revelation and avoided her for all of the next week. She cried longer that week.

Finally coughing up words to say Naruto spoke up to cut the solemn silence, "And now she's the one who's gone; does that matter to _you_?"

Sasuke didn't miss a beat as he answered, "Sakura has always mattered."

* * *

Late That Night

Sakura lay in her bed frustrated and sad. She couldn't understand why Sasuke always ran away from her and the unbelievingly-boring hospital window curtains weren't providing her with any answers. She just didn't understand it; didn't he feel the same attachment towards her that she felt towards him? Every time she saw his face she felt her entire being _swell_ with happiness. It was an extremely good feeling. How could he be ignorant of it? Didn't his person feel that same joy whenever she was near? How could an emotion like that only work one way? Sakura didn't think that it could.

"Sakura?"

Recognizing her name, the pinkette turned her head from the covered window and towards the open door. Her face split into a giant smile upon matching the face to a name. Already she was getting better at remembering people's names. Ino had told her that she was proud of her for her progress – not that Sakura had understood many of the words; she understood people through their actions, tone, expression and body language.

"Naruto!"

She invited him for an embrace by widening her arms and giggled when he gladly accepted it. She soon released him though, too excited to stay still for long. She was just short of bouncing on the bed when she asked, "Find Sasuke?"

Naruto gave her a small smile and softened his eyes. "Yeah, I found Sasuke."

Sakura's smile brightened. She was happy that he was still around. "Sasuke happy?"

Naruto did his best not to flinch. He knew that she was really asking if Sasuke was okay but she didn't have the vocabulary to ask it in so many words. She was stuck with the very basic words that held a multitude of definitions. She had gone from being the next Sannin who could crush mountains with her bare fists to learning how to speak all over again. Naruto's anger flared at his thoughts. It wasn't fair! What had Sakura done that had been so wrong that she was punished this harshly!?

"Naruto? …Naruto happy?"

Her innocent voice shattered his rage and brought him back to the present. Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts and shone a smile at the girl he thought of as a sister.

"Yup! Naruto happy!"

Sakura smiled. "Sakura happy Naruto happy!" Naruto almost flinched again. It was getting increasingly difficult to listen to her crude sentences. The Uzumaki could almost understand why his brother had fled the room the last time. It hurt to see her like this.

"Naruto. Sakura need know. Sasuke happy?"

It hurt _badly_ to see her like this.

"I don't know Sakura." Naruto felt stung when he saw her face fall in to one of confusion. Either she didn't understand what he was saying or she was worried for Sasuke. Naruto couldn't tell which one it was; both seemed very possible. "I think he's hurt by all of this Sakura – badly hurt." The sun-kissed blonde fell to kneel beside her bed and laid his head near her leg. He was struggling to keep the tears in.

"I don't blame him, y'know? I don't think anyone does. It hurts all of us to see you like this Sakura. You were precious to us – someone irreplaceable – and now… just out of the blue, we're left with this _pathetic replacement_ of you – of someone you used to be. It's just so… _infuriating_. It's like you're a fake; like you're a mockery of the real Sakura. It's not your fault that we're all hurting so badly but we don't have anyone else to blame and sometimes we can't ignore the pain and we have to let it out somehow." Naruto took a moment to pull himself together once he felt a small hand pat his blonde hair down. Even in innocent confusion, Sakura's first instinct was to comfort and heal. Naruto let the first few tears leak out and continued his monologue "I think that's what Sasuke's doing. He's letting all the hurt out into the world but doesn't want to lash out anyone 'cause he knows that no one's at fault. That's why he ran away and hid. Hell, I _know_ that's why he ran. I did the same thing; I just pretended that I was looking for him instead of hiding from you."

Naruto sniffed to try to keep Sakura's blanket's free of his mucus. He felt pathetic. But if their roles were reversed, Sakura would cry for him right? Pretending that the question gave him permission, Naruto proceeded to cry long and hard for Sakura – for his sister – because he couldn't bear it. He couldn't contain the pain and the hurt this time, couldn't pretend that everything would get better tomorrow, couldn't stand the thought that the Sakura Haruno he once knew was now dead and far beyond his reach.

He fell asleep crying there that night; he fell straight asleep under the shine of the moonlight, the caress of her smooth hand and her promises of "I (am still) Sakura".

* * *

A Few Hours Later

The machines beeped at a steady rhythm, as if to reassure him that she was alive even though she looked dead in her sleep. He noticed the mass of yellow and orange kneeling at her side and assumed that they both must have stayed up a majority of the night; she was still in an upright position for heaven's sake. He didn't need his Sharingan to see the wet stains underneath his friend's head or to see her pale hand tangled in his unruly hair.

The man scoffed at himself. He was such a coward. Naruto had come to her in a time of obvious distress and he hid himself away. Was hiding the only thing he was good for? It seemed like it. His entire life had been filled with failures: failing to meet his father's expectations, failing to protect his family, failing to gain true strength such as the Uzumaki's, failing to make Sakura happy. It seemed as if his failures greatly out-numbered his successes and this cowardice that he was displaying was just another thing to add to the list.

Perhaps it was an attempt to add something to his list of successes, or perhaps it was just a spur of the moment thing to do, or perhaps he drew strength from the sleeping blonde, or perhaps he was just starting to find that same strength in himself. But for whatever reason, Sasuke readjusted Sakura so she lay on her bed properly and made Naruto as comfortable as he could.

"I'm sorry that I've run so often. But I promise, after today, I'll keep my ground and protect what's precious to me."

It was meant to be a private vow, meant to be said only in the silence of the morning and only around those to whom it concerned. And it would've been all of those things if she hadn't opened her eyes to see him escape through the hospital window.

* * *

Five Months Later

Sakura was now re-educated in the gift of speech but still had yet to show any sign of any sort of memory beyond five months ago. She was deemed able to wander the village as long as she had someone with her to make sure she didn't hurt herself or get lost. She was also required to live with someone to provide for her. All members of Team 7 had requested the position of house mate and Tsunade settled her in with Kakashi. Currently, Sakura was skipping down one of Konoha's many roads with Kakashi beside her. His little book, for once, was not to be found on his person. He figured he had more important things to pay attention to.

The aging jounin watched the young woman turn her head in every direction – almost as if she were trying to see everything at once – with a feeling of hopelessness. He knew that Tsunade and Shizune and every other available medic were working on a way to restore her memory but no one had come up with a working solution. Sakura had already been whisked back to the hospital for testing many times since her release but the medics never learned more than they had the test before. It seemed like the only option left was to hope that she recovered her memory naturally. Of course, the chances of that happening were looking slim.

So Kakashi thought that he would try and turn the depressing moment into an opportune one. He _had_ always wanted a daughter to love, spoil and teach. He decided he could practice with Sakura. Hence, why they were currently targeting the ice cream store that Sakura seemed to love so much.

Kakashi and all of Sakura's other friends took small comfort in the fact that bits of the old Sakura shone through the new one; she still loved mint chocolate chip ice cream, her favorite color was still red, she still had an uncanny habit of arranging things into alphabetical order and she still held her hands behind her back when she laughed. Kakashi couldn't help but frown at the irony. He, Naruto and Sasuke had always been about the big things in life: revenge, strength, acceptance, rank, recognition, power. But now they could only cling to the small things about Sakura that made her less of a stranger to them, and they clung to them for dear life.

Because all three of them knew, without exchanging words, that a life without Sakura would be a life of a ninja: dark, cold, isolated, unchanging, and unfeeling. And the threat of living that life scared all of them more than they could ever express.

"Daddy?"

"Yes Sakura?"

"How come I haven't seen Sasuke around lately?"

"I've heard he's been training hard these past few months. He's probably sparring against Naruto right now." Kakashi tried to smile and the only way he managed it was because of the sudden rush of nostalgia. He was foolish to think that Team 7 would never change but it was still nice to pretend sometimes.

Sakura thought this information over for a while before stating, "Sasuke and my brother really are the best of friends, aren't they Dad?"

Oddly enough, about three months into her speech therapy, she had taken to a small habit of referring to certain people as members of her family. Kakashi became her father, Tsunade her mother, Ino her sister, Naruto her brother and Sai her cousin. But for whatever reason, she never called Sasuke anything other than his name – despite him obviously being a very precious person to her. She had proved that much when the Team had first visited her in the hospital, but for the life of them, no one could understand why Sasuke remained Sasuke. Why wasn't he her brother alongside Naruto? And even though Sasuke kept up a good face, Kakashi could tell that he was confused and hurt. Even Naruto didn't fathom why Sakura would exclude Sasuke from her family tree and when he asked her about it, she giggled in her special way and told him that it was a secret only Sasuke could know. All the more confused, Naruto had relayed the message onto his best friend but Sasuke had yet to approach her. Kakashi suspected that he feared what the answer might be and, if truth be told, he himself was a bit nervous. He didn't know what to predict from this girl who acted as a shadow of a happier past.

"Dad? Daaaaad?" a hand waved in front of his face and broke him from his train of thought. Kakashi quickly shook his head and returned his focus to the green-eyed girl in front of him.

"Sorry Sakura. What were you saying?"

"Why do you always space out like that?"

"I'm just planning what we'll do for your birthday."

"But that's a long way away!"

"It's only two weeks away kiddo."

"But it's still far away!"

Kakashi laughed and ruffled the girl's hair. He found it difficult to confess that he had, in his spare time, mapped this scene out in his head; heading to the ice cream store with his daughter on his shoulders. Only, he hadn't thought it would hurt so much to see the scene come to life. If only he had co-operated a little earlier with them when the Team came to grab him for lunch…

But he knew he couldn't do anything about it. He could split lightning in two, could protect his precious people with his life, copy a thousand jutsu, and devise the plan with the most chance of success and survival but he couldn't turn back time; couldn't change that which had already happened. Kakashi knew that.

But knowing it didn't make it a sweeter pill to swallow.

* * *

Two Weeks Later

Phrases of parting sounded throughout Kakashi and Sakura's house signaling the end of the celebration. Soon enough the only people left in the room were Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke.

"Okay you three; it's time to clean up!"

Groans from three young adults responded to Kakashi's exclamation.

"But that's totally lame Kakashi-sensei!"

"And I'm the birthday girl! I shouldn't have to clean up!"

"Good luck in getting us to co-operate."

Kakashi laughed. He had never felt more like a father. "Now kids, that's not a very good attitude to bring into life. How are you ever going to accomplish anything if you won't accept consequences and work hard?"

"Easy; beat the other people to the ground!"

"But Dad!!!"

"Hn."

Kakashi sighed. They were never this stubborn and defiant – not even when they had been cute, little pre-teens. What had happened to the good old days?

"Besides," Sakura chimed in, "I wanna take a walk and see the sun set!"

Kakashi raised his visible brow and considered her request. It _was_ her birthday after all; perhaps she was entitled to a little treat of sorts.

Giving in, Kakashi said, "Alright, alright. Sakura, you are free from clean-up duty."

"YES!!!!! Thank you Daddy!!"

Kakashi 'Oomph'ed as he was jumped by Sakura's twenty year-old body and stumbled backwards to keep his balance. As quickly as she had tackled him, she let go and raced towards the door.

"Not so fast missy! If you're gonna venture out, you have to take someone with you."

Sakura skidded to avoid smacking the door and turned to her 'father' with big puppy eyes.

"Don't even try it little lady. Pick someone to go with you or you won't be going at all."

Sakura pouted. She had really wanted to go alone. She thought that Kakashi might've let her because she was a whole year older now but it looked like her age didn't make a difference. Sakura sighed and looked at her options. Naruto was silently pleading her to take him and save him from cleaning up while Sasuke just ignored her gaze. Curious, Sakura made her decision.

"Fine. C'mon Sasuke!"

Sasuke faced her with a surprised expression. She chose him over her precious _brother_? Trying to look indifferent, Sasuke shrugged and let Sakura pull him outside – both of them choosing to ignore Naruto's claims of picking favorites and the injustice of it all.

The walk was filled with a silence that was neither awkward nor comfortable. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura found anything to say as the girl pulled the boy along Konoha's many streets. Sasuke would be lying if he said he wasn't curious when her insistent pulling abruptly ceased.

"Sakura?"

The girl paid him no mind. Her gaze was fixed on something to her right. Following her gaze, Sasuke was surprised to realize that she was looking down an empty street. Something tugged in his chest as he recognized where the road led and he knew that a single stone bench lay just out of sight beyond the curve of the trees. But why was Sakura so interested in the path leading outside of the village?

Gently, as if she were in a trance, Sakura drifted away from Sasuke's side and slowly walked down the empty road. Trying not to hope for the best (she couldn't be remembering anything could she?) Sasuke quietly followed her, careful not to disturb her focus.

She walked around the bend and paused when she caught sight of the bench. Very quietly and very cautiously, Sasuke tested her.

"Sakura?"

She didn't respond in any way; didn't even blink at the intrusion of his voice. So he tried again.

"Sakura, what are you doing?"

"This," she whispered, "is the only road out of the village."

He could barely hear her since her back was towards him.

"What?"

She didn't repeat her earlier response. Sasuke puzzled over why and was about to ask another question when she spoke again, this time a little louder.

"Why Sasuke? Why won't you ever tell me anything? Why is it always silence with you? Why is - " Sasuke was surprised as she suddenly cut herself off. He wondered why and words floated to the forefront of his mind; words he himself had spoken years ago on this very road.

"_Why should I have to tell you anything?! Just keep your nose out of my business. It's none of your concern."_

As if she heard his words spoken aloud, Sakura responded; just as she had that night.

"I know you hate me. Even in the beginning you couldn't ever stand me. Remember?"

She paused as though trying to remember the event herself. Sasuke recalled the memory of her saying these words for the first time. She had reminded him of the day they were first alone together. The day he taught her about true loneliness and told her she was annoying.

Sasuke waited for her to continue.

"… Remember?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right.

"Remember… Remember what?" Sakura cradled her head in her hands as she tried to suppress the rising pain. Her hands didn't help. She bit her lip and fell to the ground, trying to ensure that she wouldn't scream. Her head felt like it was trying to split itself in two parts and she couldn't stand how painful it was. She didn't even notice Sasuke kneel in front of her, look her in the eyes and ask her what was wrong. She didn't notice him steady her shaking shoulders with his hands or demand that she say something to him. She didn't notice anything but the pain; until the images started coming.

_A bridge and a Sasuke who resembled a porcupine._

_Standing tall in a forest surrounded by falling strands of pink._

_A demonic Sasuke, waking for the first time, protecting her._

_A glare and a warning to not say a word about the black marks._

_Sasuke helpless on a tree branch and another demon flying straight for him._

_The back of Sasuke's shirt; the Uchiha fan hidden by a large backpack. _

Sakura gasped a bit as the pain and the images receded in to the back of her mind. She finally took notice of Sasuke's frightened expression and immediately wondered what was wrong.

"Sa… Sasuke?"

"Sakura." Both companions were shocked that his voice didn't give away his inner fear. They were sure it would have shone through. "What happened?"

"I… I don't know… Something… Images flashing…" Sakura groaned after her few words as if they took a great amount of strength to whisper. She tightened her grip on her head; the pain was coming back. As it hit her full force, Sakura let out a yelp that alarmed Sasuke even more. Why was she hurting all of a sudden? After she let out a small scream Sasuke wasted no time in delivering her to the hospital. She whimpered in his arms during the whole trip and almost cried as the words flew to the front of her mind.

"_Sakura, you're heavy."_

"_Hn."_

"_Sakura, who did this to you?"_

"_Then don't watch, but stay out of it."_

"_I wasn't the one who saved you."_

"_You haven't changed; you're still annoying."_

* * *

The Next Day

The males of Team 7 were once more assembled by Sakura's hospital bedside. The mood of the room however, was much different from the last time they all met like this; this time, instead of being filled with dread for the worst, they were all praying for the best. And this time, their prayers seemed to be heard. Tsunade had informed them that her memory _was_ returning; returning at a slow pace but a steady one. She was slowly remembering events and people from most to least recent. Sakura herself had been informed of her previous condition and had requested to see her team immediately afterwards.

All five of the men had agreed to see her and were currently surrounding her with their pleasant company. Kakashi stood beside the head of the bed; Yamato was near the foot; Sai sat near her feet; Naruto sat by her legs; and Sasuke stood across from Kakashi on her other side. Sakura was currently sitting up and smiling at all of them in turn.

"I must have really worried you guys huh?"

All members of Team 7 let out a breath. It seemed like she really was coming back to them. The stranger was slowly ebbing away to reveal the Sakura that they all loved dearly and would continue to protect; all five were determined to make sure nothing like this ever happened to her again.

But in the mean time, while there was nothing threatening to take her away from them again, they fell into comfortable conversation with her and treasured the time they had with her. For they had all learned from this experience, that a cherry blossom's life is short and can end unpredictably fast. For now – yes, if never again, at least _for now_ – they would bask in her beauty and hold tight on to their precious memories.

* * *

**Author's Note: **So I am sure some of you are just down-right giddy right now and others are just down right disappointed. Either way, I'd love to have you review and read your feedback! Thanks for reading this far!


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